Nonrefillable bottle closure



Aug. 17, 1937. l H. PoLLAcK ET'AL 2,090,148

NONREFILLABLE BOTTLE CLOSURE Filled MaICh 16, 1937 26 11 32 a J l? 31al'NvENToRs HARRY Po/.LAcK BY Lou/s DAVANG ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 17,1937 UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 10 Claims.

This invention relates to a non-rellable bottle device of the typeadapted to serve as a closure for bottles, permitting the outflow of thefluid contents and preventing the refilling of the bottle with asubstituted iiuid. f

Cognizance is taken of the fact that many attempts have been made toprovide bottle closures of this type, but it is common knowledge thatmany of such devices can be manipulated in such manner as to permit theintroduction of a substituted fluid into the bottle without affectingthe subsequent operation thereof, or without showing visible signs thatsuch bottles have been tampered with. It is within the contemplation ofour invention to overcome such shortcomings by providing a closure thatwill at all times permit the original liquid contents to be poured outof the bottle, and eliminate the possibility of introducing substitutedcontents without visibly o and otherwise noticeably giving evidence thatthe closure has been tampered with.

Another object of this invention is to permit, in a device of thisnature, the original fluid con.- tents to be poured out readily andsmoothly at 25 all times. V

Still another object is to provide a construction of simple andinexpensive design that will accomplish the aforementioned purposes.

Other objects, features and advantages will 30 appear from the drawingand the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawing,

Figure l is a fragmentary vertical section of a bottle showing ourinvention in operative posi- 35 tion with the outlet passageway closed.

Figure 2 is a plan View of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of Figure 1 taken along line 3-3.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section of 40 Figure 3 taken alongline 4--4.

Figure 5 is a bottom View of the device constituting vour invention, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section taken along the longitudinal axis of abottle containing our 45 invention, the parts being shown in position topermit the outflow of the fluid contents.

In the drawing, the neck of the bottle IIJ suitably accommodates thesubstantiallyv hollow cylindrical plug or body portion II of the de- 50vicathe upper periphery of the'xbottle, in the preferred arrangement,containinga recess I2 for operatively receiving the flange I3 of saidplug.

An outer shell or lining I4 made preferably of cork is interposedbetween the plug I I and the 55 bottle I0, so as to provide .anairftight v,and

resilient seal. It will be noted that the said lining I4 extendsupwardly to the underside of the flange I3, so that no access theretocan .be had from the outer periphery of the bottle.

The said plug III contains therein the spout I5 communicating throughthe passageways IB and I'I with the annular inner chamber I8. Thepassageway I9 in said plug is positioned preferably diametricallyopposite to the passageway il, and communicates through the outerannular chamber 23 with the longitudinal chamber or channel 2i! whichextends downwardly towards the base of said plug and terminates adjacentthe space 2i, The plug II also contains a longitudinal central member 22in spaced relation to the lateral wall 23 of the plug. I

A substantially cylindrical hollow valve member 24 is slidablypositioned over the said central member 22, the lateral wall 25 thereofbeing movable within the said annular outer chamber 26 in the plug I I.It will be observed that the valve 24 is provided with extensions 24aand24b which fit into appropriate recesses in the plug II to permit itto slidably` move therein (see Figure 3). The upper portion of saidvalve 24 is cut away to form an opening 2l as shown on the drawing, thelower wall 28 thereof being preferably downwardly bevelled. The saidslidable Valve `24 also contains in the lateral Wall thereof a recessedduct 29 communicating, when the valve is in its closed or lowermostposition, with the interior of the bottle through the channel 30 in thesaid plug. The channel 3l at the upper portion of the plug communicateswith the outer annular chamber 26 and the atmosphere through the foursmall holes 32. The relative positions and dimensions of the channel 3|and recessed duct 29 are such that when the valve is in its open oruppermost position, the said recessed duct will be in communication withthe channels 3l] and 3 I. Note should also be taken of the fact that theupper wall 33 of said recessed portion 29 is downwardly bevelled asshown.

In the assembling of this device, the valve 24 is slidablyI positionedover the said central portion 22 as indicated, and thereafter thesubstantially vU-.shaped retaining wire 34 is placed in positionextendingarms 42 and 43 of the retaining wire 34 are resilient innature, the upper outwardly ared portions 42d and 43a of said arms willspring outwardly into said recesses 40 and 4I, thereby holding theassembled device in place. Note should be taken that the said plugcontains recesses 44 and 45 in the lateral side thereof to accommodatethe said arms 42'and 43 of the retaining wire 34. It is obvious that itis now permanently afxed in place, and cannot be removed except bybreaking the bottle.

When the device is in the position shown in Figure 1, it will be notedthat the valve thereof is closed, there being no direct communicationbetween the interior of the bottle and the spout ,Y

l5. However, when the bottler is inverted, as shown in Figure 6, thevalve4I will yslide downwardly until it comes into abutment with the lupper wall 26d of chamber 26. In this position, there is directcommunication between the lin-` terior of the bottle through the space 2I, the port 2 Ia, the chambers 20 and 26, the port or passageway I9,around the inner annular chamber I8, and out through the passageways I1,I6 and spout I5. When the parts are in this position, the liquidcontents can freely ilow out of the bottle as shown by the arrows. Tofacilitate such a flow, the holes 32, the passageway 3I, port 3Ia. andpassageways 29 and 30 are provided whereby air is drawn therethroughinto the bottle to prevent the formation of a vacuum and provide sufiicient'air pressure for the purpose. (See Figure 6.) i

When the bottle is in its inverted operative position, it is apparentthat no instrument or wire can be inserted within the structure so as tooperatively hold the valve 22 in its open position, whereby asubstituted fluid can be introduced by suction. Such an insertion ormanipulation is rendered practically impossible due to the fact thatsuch instrument would have to follow a circuitcus path extending throughthe passageways I 6, I`I,the annular chamber I8, the passageway I9, thechambers 26 and 2U, and then around t0 f the surface 28 of valve 24. Itis thus obvious that i leo sucha path would constitute an unsurmountablebarrier to almost any instrument whatsoever. Neither'would -it bepossible to engagev the surface 28 [of the'valve 24 to irictionally holditin'v its open position due' to the fact that such surface is bevelledas indicated. f

' Should an attempt'be made to hold the valve 24 in its open position byinserting an instrument through the channel 3|, such a procedure wouldbe whollyyimpracticable, forsseveral reasons. In the iirst place, theopenings' 32 can be made suiciently small to prevent an instrument frombeingv operatively inserted therethrough.- In the second place, shouldan instrument be manipulated lthrough said holes, it would have to passthroughthe inclined passageways connecting said holes y32 and channel3`I, and thenthrough a r'ight'angle turn at 48. vAt thisvpointtheinstrument will engage an inclined suiface'v33, preventingafrictionalengagement for such purpose.

If, for the purpose of entering thechannel 3|),

theiour holes 32 are enl'argedinto cnelarge/one Qby a drill, there willbe visible evidence that the -device has been tampered with. The fourholes,

wherri'ntacu thus 'constitute a visible symbol kto show that' the devicehas not been tampered with,

and`v 'that the contents within the bottle are genuine,

' `It 'thus appears that the structure constituting our invention isapract'ical closure for a' bottle,

`-`a'nd provided with cooperative `elements adapted to prevent asubstitution of the'original fluid contents of the bottle, or to givevisible evidence that the device has been tampered with. The entirestructure co-nsists essentially of two major parts that can be readilyfabricated from molds, the two additional parts, namely the retainingwire 34 and the lining I4 being of simple and inexpensive construction.It is also apparent that the assembly can be readily effected withoutthe employment of any specially skilled help.

It'is of course understood that the various embodiments above describedand shown in the drawing are illustrative ci our invention and notemployed by way of limitation, inasmuch as numerous changes andmodications may be made within the scope of the appended claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention.

What we claim is:

l. In an unrellable bottle closure, a substantially hollow plug adaptedto be inserted within the neck of a bottle, a central memberlongitudinally disposed within the plug and in spaced relation to thelateral wall thereof whereby an annular chamber is formed therebetween,the central member being shorter than the plug whereby a space is formedin the region of the base of the plug, said plug containing alongitudinal chamber communicating with said annularchamber andextending to the region of said space, a hollow valve member having itslateral wall in slidable engagement with said central member and movablewithin said annular chamber and space, means to limit the movement ofsaid valve member from its closed or most remote position from the mouthof the bottle to its open or nearest position with respect to saidmouth, the said wall of the valve member. being interposed between saidlongitudinal chamber and said space when the valve is in its said closedposition, said longitudinal chamber and said space being incommunication when the valve member is in its said open position, thesaid wall of the valve member havingan .opening therein communicatingwith said annularchamber, .and a spout at the outlet end of the plugcommunicating with said annular chamber.

2. In an unrei'lllable bottle closure, a substantially hollow plugadapted to be inserted within the neck of a bottle and containing twosubstantially concentric annular chambers therein, a spout in the outletend of the plug, two independent passageways communicating with theinner of saidannular chambers, one of said passageways leading to` saidspout and the other to the outerofsaid yannular chambers, a longitu- .e

`.the s'aidinner chamber, one of said passageways leading to said spoutand the other to the said outer chamber, a Vlongitudinall chambercommunicating with the outer of said annular cham bers, a portcommunicating with said longitudinal-chamber and the interior of saidbottle, 'valve means operatively associated withsaidport, andl lockingmeans for securing the plug neck ofthe bottle. y f

to the 4. In an unrefillable bottle closure, a substantially hollow plugadapted to be inserted within the neck of a bottle and containing aninner annular chamber, a spout in the outlet end of the plug, alongitudinal channel, a port communicating with said longitudinalchannel and the interior of said bottle, two independent diametricallyopposite passageways, one of said passageways leading to said spout andthe other communicating with said longitudinal channel, and valve meansoperatively associated with said port.

5. In an unrellable bottle structure, a bottle neck having two recessesin the inner wall thereof, a valve-containing body portion adapted to fbe inserted within the said neck, and a substantially U-shaped retainingwire comprising a cross bar in underlying supporting engagement with thebase of said body portion, and two upwardly extending resilient armscontaining upper outwardly ilared portions extending into said recesses,the upper terminal portions of said arms containing inwardly extendingfingers, the said body portion containing holes therein adjacent thesaid recesses in said neck and into which said ngers extend.

6. In an unrefillable bottle closure, a substantially hollow plugadapted to be inserted within the neck of a bottle, a central memberlongitudinally disposed within the plug and in spaced relation to thelateral wall thereof whereby an annular chamber is formed therebetween,said lateral wall containing two independent channels communicating withsaid chamber, one of said channels leading to the atmosphere through themouth end of said plug, and the other to the interior of the bottlethrough the base of said plug, a hollow valve member having its lateralwall in slidable engagement with said central member and movable withinsaid annular chamber, means to limit the movement of said valve memberfrom its most remote position from the mouth of the bottle to itsnearest position with respect to said mouth, said valve membercontaining in its outer lateral wall a longitudinal recessed portionadapted to communicate with both of said channels only when the valvemember is in its said position nearest the mouth of the bottle, av spoutin communication with said annular chamber, said chamber being incommunication with the interior of the bottle, and valve meansoperatively positioned between the interior of the bottle and saidannular chamber.

'7. In an unrellable bottle closure, a substantially hollow plug adaptedto be inserted within the neck of a bottle, a central memberlongitudinally disposed within the plug and in spaced relation to thelateral wall thereof whereby an annular chamber is formed therebetween,the central member being shorter than the plug whereby a space is formedin the region of thev base of the plug, said plug containing alongitudinal chamber communicating with said annular chamber andextending to the region of said space, a hollow valve member having itslateral wall in slidable engagement with said central member and movablewithin said annular chamber and space, a substantially U-shapedretaining wire comprising a cross bar in underlying supportingengagement with the base o-f said plug and said valve member to hold thelatter in its closed or most remote position from the mouth of thebottle, said retaining wire containing two upwardly extending resilientarms in locking engagement with the neck of the bottle and the saidplug, the said annular chamber terminating near the mouth end of thebottle in a Wall adapted to engage said valve member and hold it in itsopen or nearest position with respect to said mouth, the said Wall ofthe valve member being interposed between said longitudinal chamber andsaid space when the valve is in its said closed position, saidlongitudinal chamber and said space being in communication when thevalve member is in its said open position, the said wall of the valvemember having an opening therein communicating with said annularchamber, and a spout at the outlet end of the plug communieating withsaid annular chamber.

8. In an unrefillable bottle closure, a valvecontaining body portionadapted to be inserted within the neck of the bottle and containing achamber therein, a channel communicating with the atmosphere through theouter end of said body portion, the inner end of said channel containingan angular bend terminating in a port, and a sli-de valve in saidchamber operatively associated with said port, said valve containing arecessed duct communicating with said port and the interior of thebottle, the upper wall of said duct being inclined downwardly.

9. In an unrellable bottle closure, a valvecontaining body portionadapted to be inserted within the neck of the bottle and containing achamber communicating with the interior of the bottle, a channel in saidbody portion terminating at itsl inner end in a port communicating withsaid chamber, a plurality of passageways inclined with respect to saidchannel and communicating between the channel and the outer exposed endof. said body portion, and valve means operatively associated with saidport.

l0. In an unrellable bottle closure, a valvecontaining body portionadapted to be inserted within the neck of the bottle and containing achamber communicating with the interior of the bottle, a laterallyenclosed channel -entirely within said body portion terminating at itsinner end in a port communicating with said chamber, the said bodyportion containing at its outer end and in spaced relation to the edgethereof a cluster of relatively small adjacent and laterally enclosedholes leading directly into said channel, and valve means operativelyassociated with said port.

HARRY POLLACK. LOUIS DAVANG.

